Influence of the type of solvent on the textural evolution of yttria stabilized zirconia powders obtained by the sol–gel method: Characterization and study of the fractal dimension

Yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) powders have been prepared by means of the sol–gel method. A porous characterization in terms of micropore, mesopore and total pore volumes and specific surface area of the YSZ powders has been carried out by N2 adsorption at 77 K. The influence of three parameters (i.e., molar ratio of propanol, type of alcohol and use of acetic acid) on the textural properties of the samples has been analyzed. In general, an increase of the molar ratio of propanol leads to a growth in the specific surface area and a decrease in the average pore width. A remarkable contraction of the pores is observed as the molecular size of the alcohols used grows. The use of acetic acid produces a noticeably lower differential pore volume, which indicates that the influence of the hydrolysis on the process is not significant. Finally, values of fractal dimension indicate that, in general, the texture of the samples is mainly microporous. The apparently anomalous behavior of one of the samples is discussed as well.